need help identifying Sands Las Vegas $5 chip (3 Viewers)

[JayChipsNY]

Hello everyone,

My name is Jay. I am new here and I am trying to identify a Sands Casino Las Vegas $5 “Cowgirl / Hourglass” chip.

I believe it may be an older Sands $5 chip, possibly HCE / Horsehead Cane Edge mold, mustard color, with 3 blue inserts, and it appears to be notched/cancelled.

I have clear photos of the front, back, edge, weight, and dimensions.

Can someone please point me to the best section of the forum to post this for identification, authenticity, rarity, and value help?

Thank you,
Jay

 

[The Rake]

Beautiful chip!

 

[jamesjkim]

 

[JayChipsNY]

Beautiful chip!

Thank you! I appreciate it. I am new to casino chip collecting and still learning. I am hoping someone can help confirm the correct identification, mold, and catalog information.

View attachment 1672638

Thank you very much! This is exactly what I was looking for. I appreciate you confirming the Sands $5 Cowgirl chip information and catalog number N4043.

Thank you very much. This looks very close to my chip and helps a lot.

I notice the color in the reference photo may look a little different from mine, possibly due to lighting, age, or wear. Would anyone be able to help confirm whether my chip matches catalog N4043, and whether there are any authenticity concerns I should check for?

I can provide additional close-up photos if needed.

 

[Okku]

Welcome to PCF, Jay.

You’ve got a pretty serious chip there. This is the Sands $5 “Cowgirl / Hourglass” chip, ChipGuide number CG117200. It’s listed as an obsolete Sands $5 from 1959, mustard color, 3 blue inserts, and on the HCE mold. The catalog number shown is N4043.

It is definitely a rare chip, and yours is not cancelled. From the photos you posted, it also looks to be in pretty good shape overall for this particular chip, so I’d be looking at uncancelled sales when thinking about value.

For reference, Heritage has had some strong sold examples:

$30,000 in 2013
$12,500 in 2014
$10,000 in 2014

There was also a recorded online sale around $7,255 in 2021. Of course, with a chip like this, condition, timing, and having the right Sands/old Vegas buyers watching can make a huge difference.

I wouldn’t automatically call it a $30k chip just because one sold there, but I also wouldn’t treat this like anything common. Based on the known sales and the fact that yours is uncancelled, I’d say this is very likely a five-figure chip, or at minimum something I would be very careful with before accepting any quick private offer.

If you want more eyes on it, I’d also post it in the Casino Chip Collectors group on Facebook and/or over on TheChipBoard. Those places will probably have some of the right Sands and older Vegas collectors, and if you were ever looking to sell, that’s likely where the serious buyers would be.

Very cool chip. Definitely worth taking your time on this one.

 

[JayChipsNY]

Welcome to PCF, Jay.

You’ve got a pretty serious chip there. This is the Sands $5 “Cowgirl / Hourglass” chip, ChipGuide number CG117200. It’s listed as an obsolete Sands $5 from 1959, mustard color, 3 blue inserts, and on the HCE mold. The catalog number shown is N4043.

It is definitely a rare chip, and yours is not cancelled. From the photos you posted, it also looks to be in pretty good shape overall for this particular chip, so I’d be looking at uncancelled sales when thinking about value.

For reference, Heritage has had some strong sold examples:

$30,000 in 2013
$12,500 in 2014
$10,000 in 2014

There was also a recorded online sale around $7,255 in 2021. Of course, with a chip like this, condition, timing, and having the right Sands/old Vegas buyers watching can make a huge difference.

I wouldn’t automatically call it a $30k chip just because one sold there, but I also wouldn’t treat this like anything common. Based on the known sales and the fact that yours is uncancelled, I’d say this is very likely a five-figure chip, or at minimum something I would be very careful with before accepting any quick private offer.

If you want more eyes on it, I’d also post it in the Casino Chip Collectors group on Facebook and/or over on TheChipBoard. Those places will probably have some of the right Sands and older Vegas collectors, and if you were ever looking to sell, that’s likely where the serious buyers would be.

Very cool chip. Definitely worth taking your time on this one.

Thank you very much for the detailed information. I really appreciate it.

This helps me understand the chip much better. My next step is to continue confirming authenticity and condition with experienced collectors.

Thank you again for taking the time to explain the ChipGuide/catalog information and past sale references.

Thank you everyone for the information so far. Since this may be a significant Sands chip, I would like to handle the next step carefully.

For authentication and condition review, who would you recommend I contact or show the chip to? I am not looking to rush a sale. I want to confirm authenticity, condition, and catalog match first.

I can provide additional natural-light photos, edge photos, weight, diameter, and thickness if helpful.

 

[Okku]

Thank you everyone for the information so far. Since this may be a significant Sands chip, I would like to handle the next step carefully.

For authentication and condition review, who would you recommend I contact or show the chip to? I am not looking to rush a sale. I want to confirm authenticity, condition, and catalog match first.

I can provide additional natural-light photos, edge photos, weight, diameter, and thickness if helpful.

To be honest I believe it’s the real thing. Especially because it has that black sort of gunk along the side meaning it was sitting in a casino chip tray for some time. It’s seen use and other things.

If you really want some expertise you can reach out to someone like @David Spragg or James Campiglia on Facebook. Campiglia has written many books about values and so has David. Both would be experts. Many of those on TheChipBoard have also been around for a long time so they would know quite a bit too.

I too have been in the business for a handful of years. Seen some pretty rare chips and have been able to tell real vs fake.

 

[JayChipsNY]

To be honest I believe it’s the real thing. Especially because it has that black sort of gunk along the side meaning it was sitting in a casino chip tray for some time. It’s seen use and other things.

If you really want some expertise you can reach out to someone like @David Spragg or James Campiglia on Facebook. Campiglia has written many books about values and so has David. Both would be experts. Many of those on TheChipBoard have also been around for a long time so they would know quite a bit too.

I too have been in the business for a handful of years. Seen some pretty rare chips and have been able to tell real vs fake.

Thank you very much. I appreciate your opinion and the explanation about the rim/side wear and chip-tray gunk. That makes sense.

I also appreciate the expert names and TheChipBoard suggestion. I will continue carefully and will not rush any private sale or offer. My next goal is to document the chip better with natural-light photos, close-ups, weight, diameter, and thickness, then seek experienced authentication/condition opinions.

 

[GamingOre]

@JayChipsNY

@Okku is spot on! Good call Oscar.

There are several accomplished collectors of older Las Vegas casino chips in your neighborhood. Feel free to DM me, and we will see if any of them can meet up with you for a hands-on examination and, likely, confirmation of authenticity. But like @Okku, this looks very legit to me from your pics.

Jim

 

[JayChipsNY]

Thank you, Jim. I really appreciate that. A hands-on examination by experienced collectors would be very helpful.

I am not rushing any sale or private offer. My goal is only to confirm authenticity, condition, and catalog match in the proper way.

I will keep everything careful and documented. Thank you again for the guidance.

@JayChipsNY

@Okku is spot on! Good call Oscar.

There are several accomplished collectors of older Las Vegas casino chips in your neighborhood. Feel free to DM me, and we will see if any of them can meet up with you for a hands-on examination and, likely, confirmation of authenticity. But like @Okku, this looks very legit to me from your pics.

Jim